Twirling is Catching - Texas Edition: 2024

Monday, April 22, 2024

2024 Southwest Regional Pageant Winners - Beginner Pageant

Hello Texas Twirl Fans!

With just a little over a week until the Twirlies, it is time to continue our look at our Regional Winners

To celebrate our new Regional Pageant title holders, over the next few weeks, we will be recognizing them here on the blog. Congrats to all of these talented twirlers on their success at Regionals.

Today we will be recognizing the 2024 Southwest Regional Beginner Pageant Winners!

Senior Beginner Pageant Winner

Avery Bryan

Avery is from Henderson, Texas, where she is currently the Feature Twirler at Henderson High School, but this fall she will be attending Stephen F Austin State University and performing as a Twirl-O-Jack. She is a member of Precision Twirl and is coached by Paige Keitt, with additional instruction from Kayli Mickey-McIntosh. Her favorite memory from Regionals was getting to cheer on her current High School teammates as well as her future Twirl-O-Jack teammates! This summer she is excited to have the opportunity to perform at Notre Dame as it is her first time getting to attend NBTA Nationals!

Junior Beginner Pageant Winner

Ava Gourley

Ava is from San Antonio, Texas. She is a member of the Twirling Sweet Sensations and is coached by Michele Pangrac. Her favorite memory from Regionals was getting to celebrate her win with her best friend Corin, who also won her pageant! Ava is looking forward to her first appearance at NBTA Nationals this summer and can't wait to meet twirlers from all over the USA!

Pre-Teen Beginner Pageant Winner

Marissa Mason

Marissa is from Dallas, Texas, and this fall she will be the twirler for Cain Middle School. She is a member of the Texas Touch of Class and is coached by Sheila Rigelsky. Her favorite memory from Regionals was spending time with friends and cheering them on at the competition. For this summer she is looking forward to everything about NBTA Nationals. "I am just excited that I have the opportunity to compete!"

Juvenile Beginner Pageant Winner

Madeleine Kay White

Madeleine Kay, also known as MK, is from The Woodlands, TX. She is a member of the Mickey's Majorettes and is coached by Patti Mickey and Kayli Mickey-McIntosh. Her favorite memory from Regionals was finding out she placed first in all three Beginner Pageant events! For NBTA Nationals, she is looking forward to seeing the many twirlers from all over the country.

Little Miss Beginner Pageant Winner

Caroline Gee

Caroline is from Jacksonville, Texas. She is a member of the Mickey's Majorettes and is coached by Kayli Mickey-McIntosh and Patti Mickey. Her favorite memory from Regionals was sitting on the floor with the Mickeys Majorettes and saying 'MM4M" as loud as they could. "I was also so excited to be crowned by my teammate Alexis Tanner, the College Miss Majorette of the Southwest!" This summer she is looking forward to going to Nationals for the FIRST time and seeing all of the amazing twirlers!

CONGRATS TO ALL OUR REGIONAL BEGINNER PAGEANT WINNERS!

We hope you have enjoyed this blog post. We are always looking for great new stories about Texas twirlers. Do you have an idea or some information we could use to help highlight our sport? Contact us at texastwirlcontact@gmail.com and we would love to hear more about it.

Thursday, April 18, 2024

2024 Southwest Regional Pageant Winners - Basic Skills

Hello Texas Twirl Fans!

Can you believe it has already been a month since the 2024 Southwest Regional Championship! We are so thankful for the amazing contest directors, Patti Mickey and Kayli Mickey-McIntosh, for making it all happen. It was a wonderful event, and we are so excited for our regional winners!

To celebrate our new Regional Pageant title holders, over the next few weeks, we will be recognizing them here on the blog. Congrats to all of these talented twirlers on their success at Regionals.

Today we will be recognizing the 2024 Southwest Regional Basic Skills Pageant Winners!

Senior Basic Skills Pageant Winner

Elizabeth Smith

Elizabeth is from Pineland, TX, where she is the Head Twirler at West Sabine High School. She is a member of Precision Twirl and is coached by Paige Keitt. Her favorite memory from Regionals was sitting with the girls from her studio during the award ceremony. "I love getting to hang out with them and celebrate all of our accomplishments together!"

Junior Basic Skills Pageant Winner

Faith Zaverl

Faith is from San Antonio, Texas, where she is a Feature Twirler at Harlan High School. She is a member of the Heart of Texas Twirlers and is coached by Mary Ann Pozzi. Her favorite memory from regionals was her no drop during her regional solo!

Pre-Teen Basic Skills Pageant Winner

Raylin Hull

Raylin is from Liberty Hill, Texas. She is a member of the Twirl ATX and is coached by Whitney Coons, as well as Ashley Wood & Kaylee Williams. Her favorite memory from regionals was spending time with her teammates and coach when she wasn't competing. "My teammates and I are really close!"

Juvenile Basic Skills Pageant Winner

Evelyn Dutcher

Evelyn s from Broken Arrow, OK. She is a member of the BA Twirling Tigers and is coached by Amanda Hardman. Her favorite memory from Regionals was performing two no drop solos! She is also looking forward to seeing some amazing twirlers perform when she attends her first NBTA Nationals this summer.

Little Miss Basic Skills Pageant Winner

Klara Pugh

Klara is from Liberty, Texas. she is a member of VM and is coached by Vicki Michelle, Morgan Lunsford, and Kayli Webber. Her favorite memory from regionals was seeing her hard work pay off when she received her tiara and sash at awards.

CONGRATS TO ALL OUR REGIONAL BASIC SKILLS PAGEANT WINNERS!

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

2024 Fall Twirler Announcements - Oklahoma State University

Hello Texas Twirl Fans!

It is that exciting time of year where twirlers are auditioning for twirling spots for the Fall. This blog hopes to help spread the excitement by announcing the selections for the lovely twirlers we will see on the field very soon in Texas or representing out of State. If you have an announcement for new twirler selections for 2024-25, please email texastwirlcontact@gmail.com so that we can help spread the word!

Today's we announce the new 2024-2025 Oklahoma State University Feature Twirler!

Oklahoma State University, also known as OSU, is located in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and is the home of the Cowboys. This coming fall it will also be the home of Texas Twirler, Jaidyn Poole!

Jaidyn Poole, who is from Katy, TX, is the current Feature Twirler for Seven Lakes High School. Coached by Patti Mickey & Kayli Mickey-McIntosh, Jaidyn's impressive twirling resume includes titles such as being a 3x Junior Miss Majorette of the Southwest and 2X Senior Miss Majorette of the Southwest, Outstanding Performer at Texas State UIL 2022, the 2023 Margaret Mann Innovation Award recipient, and 2020 Miss Twirling Mania Advanced, as well as being a member of Team USA 2023 in England where she placed 7th in Level A Artistic Twirl at Nations Cup and 4th in X-Strut at Worlds.

We asked Jaidyn what interested her in OSU, and she told us about her first visit. "I first visited OSU with my mom in the summer of 2022 on our way to South Bend, Indiana for AYOP. We tried to make college visits on every road trip since I knew twirling in college was my dream. I kept an open mind because I knew this process would be difficult with many steps along the way. My visit to OSU stuck with me though because mom was born in Oklahoma City, so I guess you could say we have some roots there. I loved the campus the first time I saw it. It has the red brick with white buildings that have a bit of southern charm. The campus is very pretty, and we had heard from some band friends about some of the fun OSU traditions, especially homecoming. OSU also has the program that I am interested in, so I can major in Fashion Merchandising!"

It is so exciting to find a campus where the twirling dream and academic goals can come together! Now that she is committed to OSU, we wanted to know what she is most looking forward to in her freshman season. "I am most looking forward to game days! The spirit of game days in Boone Pickens Stadium is like a dream come true! Additionally, I am looking forward to college in general and the possibility of being part of Greek life. I am also excited to experience this with Callan Hall (the other new OSU Feature Twirler) as we both get an opportunity to be part of bringing twirling back to Cowboy Country. OSU has been without a twirler the last two years, and now they will have two! I could not be more honored and excited to be part of that and look forward to experiencing this together with (OSU Twirling Sponsor) Aly Akers and the OSU Marching Band!"

We are so excited to see Jaidyn continue her twirling career at OSU, and we know she will be an amazing addition to the Cowboy Marching Band program. Congrats Jaidyn and Go Pokes!

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

2024 Fall Twirler Announcements - Texas Tech University

Hello Texas Twirl Fans!

It is that exciting time of year where twirlers are auditioning for twirling spots for the Fall. This blog hopes to help spread the excitement by announcing the selections for the lovely twirlers we will see on the field very soon in Texas and representing out of State. If you have an announcement for new twirler selections for 2024-25, please email texastwirlcontact@gmail.com so that we can help spread the word!

Today we announce the selection of the 2024-25 Texas Tech University Twirlers!

Texas Tech, located in Lubbock, TX, is well known for their National Champion Twirlers. Led by Coach Bethany Tolley, the Texas Tech Twirlers perform at football games, school events, and compete on the National level. In fact, this past summer they earned the title of 2023 Small Group National Collegiate Half Time Twirl Team Champions! Auditions for the Fall twirling line were this past weekend in Lubbock, and they selected nine twirlers for the Texas Tech Twirling Line and one Feature Twirler.

Back for their Senior seasons will be returning Texas Tech Feature Twirler, Kirby Stanek,
and returning Head Twirler, Laney Whitefield!

(Laney on the left, Kirby on the right)

Returning to the field will also be third year twirler, Sophie Carnes, and second year twirler, Taryn Fojtik!

(Sophie on the left, Taryn on the right)

Finally, joining the team for the 2024-2025 Season will be newcomers:

(listed from Left to Right)

*Addison Lee from Texas

*Kaelyn Wood from Oklahoma

*Anna Lilie from Texas

*Kiana (Kiki) Schraufnagel from Wisconsin

*Sommer Wermes from Wisconsin

*Lauren Feltner from Nebraska

Congrats ladies on being part of another year at this awesome twirling institution. We know it is going to be a great season and we cannot wait to see you all perform together. Guns Up! Wreck Em Tech!

Monday, January 1, 2024

3...2...1... Happy 2024! 2023 Year End Countdown

Hello, and Happy New Year Texas Twirl Fans!

2023 has come to an end and 2024 is here! The past year has been wonderful for our #TeamTexas athletes! We hope to see this continue in 2024, but before we turn our focus to the new year, it is time to wrap things up with our 2023 Year End Countdown!

For the blog this year, we have continued to live out our mission by helping to keep our community connected and going strong. We put many, many hours into this blog and the Texas Twirl website, and it just makes every minute totally worth it when we see Texas Twirlers supporting each other all across the state. #TeamTexas is amazing, and we are so blessed to be a part of it!

To celebrate, here is our annual Goodbye 2023 post to take a look back on the past year of this blog's existence, and recognize those that have helped contribute to our mission...

*First Blog Post of 2023 - Contest Calendar Series: 2023 JJ Great Day Twirling Festival

*Top Friday Night Lights Feature Post - Friday Night Lights Feature: Henderson High School

*Top Collegiate Twirler Spotlight Post - Collegiate Twirler Spotlight: Tarleton State

*Highest # of Likes on Instagram - Callyn Marvell in Disney TV Show

*Highest # of Likes on Facebook - Maggie Chrudimsky Wins Sr Three Baton at Nations Cup

*Highest # of Shares on Facebook - 2024 Southwest Regionals Date Announcement

*Highest Viewed Collegiate Twirler Announcement - 2023 SMU "Doll"